For 49ers, Chiefs fans, these are some Super beers

All Super Bowl parties are not created equal. We may have friends content with a screen that’s large enough for everyone to see the game (and the ads), chips, dip and the brands of beer being advertised during commercial breaks. Others go all out, creating a theme party that pays tribute to the gridiron competitors, right down to the beer in the fridge. For those hoping to stage the latter, who are still trying to figure out what brews will do, a few local beer experts offer their recommendations.

Finding a nice selection of quality beer to represent the San Francisco Bay Area, and the 49ers, should be fairly easy. Northern California has a thriving craft beer community. And the pros agree you don’t have to dig deep to find something good.

“My first go-to for San Fran is going to be obvious,” says Sam Merritt of Southern Glazer’s Wine and Spirits. “It’s Anchor. You know, Anchor Brewing Company. They’ve been there forever. They’re really, clearly the anchor for San Francisco.”

The Golden Tiki’s Adam Rains concurs.

“They revived that style of steam beer, which is a hybrid ale-lager. So it has the easy nature of a lager, but still has the good character of an ale.”

Anthony Jamison of The Sand Dollar Lounge points out that Anchor Brewing offers another product that may play better with guests who aren’t craft beer aficionados.

“They do a California lager, which is a Budweiser equivalent,” he notes.

If you do want to dig a little deeper to support the 49ers, all three experts mention 21st Amendment Brewery in San Leandro, California. Favorites among its products include the original Brew Free or Die IPA, as well as a blood orange variety.

“Their blood orange IPA is just as advertised,” Rains says. “It’s fruity, but then has that bitter orange peel thing to it. So you can drink quite a few of them, but as an IPA drinker you’re still satisfied. It’s one of those that’s a big crowd pleaser.”

Finally, for the visuals as well as the taste, Jamison suggests Fog Bank, a collaborative unfiltered IPA by San Diego’s Mason Ale Works and Berkeley’s Fieldwork Brewing Company that has an image of the Golden Gate Bridge on the cans. You can pick up some of those cans locally at Beer Zombies Bottle Shop, Top Shelf Wine &Spirits and Khoury’s Fine Wine &Spirits.

When it comes to representing the Chiefs in your fridge or your cooler, you don’t have quite as many options. But all three of these experts enthusiastically recommend Kansas City’s Boulevard Brewing Company.

“It’s an amazing brewery,” says Merritt, despite the fact that his company isn’t its local distributor. “They’ve got great range. You can’t really go wrong.”

“They do a pretty wide range of stuff, and it’s fairly inexpensive,” Jamison adds.

Among the Boulevard offerings available locally, including at Lee’s Discount Liquors and Total Wine, are Space Camper IPA, Phantom Haze Double IPA, Tank 7 American saison ale, and Deep Drop nitro cold brew milk stout. And just in case the Chiefs fall behind at some point, Rains recommends keeping some of Boulevard’s Easy Sport on hand.

“It’s called a rally ale. It’s a super refreshing golden ale with a hint of tartness and salinity from tangerine peel &sea salt.”

Contact Al Mancini at amancini@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AlManciniVegas on Twitter and Instagram.